THE CEDAR COMMISSIONS NightTwo:GregoryBess,MikeyMarget,ValentineLowryOrtega

The Cedar Presents

Saturday, February 21, 2026 / Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 7:30 PM

All Ages

Seated

This is a seated show with general admission, first-come-first-served seating. The Cedar is happy to reserve seats for patrons who require special seating accommodations. To request access accommodations, please go to our .

For Cedar-presented shows, online ticket sales typically end one hour before the door time, and then, based on availability, tickets will be available at the door. Tickets purchased at the door will include a $1 Eventbrite fee.

Tickets are not transferrable between night one and night two.

Two-Show Pass admits you to both Friday, February 20th and Saturday, February 21st, 2026 Cedar Commissions concerts at The Cedar at a discount! You can find those, .

The Cedar Cultural Center presents the fifteenth annual Cedar Commissions, on February 20 and February 21, 2025 featuring all new works by Deeq Abdi, Creekbed Carter Hogan, Trick Locket (Bryn Battani), Gregory Bess, Mikey Marget, and Valentine Lowry-Ortega

Each evening, three artists of the 2025-26 cohort will present their commissioned work on The Cedar stage:

Night 1 - Deeq Abdi, Creekbed Carter Hogan, Trick Locket (Bryn Battani) 

Night 2 - Gregory Bess, Mikey Marget, Valentine Lowry-Ortega

The Cedar Commissions is a celebrated program for local emerging artists made possible by a grant from Jerome Foundation. Since 2011, the Commissions have showcased new work by over 90 Minnesota-based emerging composers and musicians, including Dessa, Aby Wolf, Ritika Ganguly, Maria Isa, deVon Russel Gray, Joey Van Phillips, Gao Hong, Dameun Strange, Vie Boheme, and many more.

GR3G is a 24-year-old independent artist from South Side Chicago, now based in Minneapolis. Rooted in storytelling and social justice advocacy, his work blends hip-hop lyricism with experimental jazz influences to explore themes of Black masculinity, resilience, and healing.

Mikey Marget (they/them) is a Minneapolis-based cellist and songwriter. Their instrumental music combines traditional folk with modern electro-acoustic elements, while their singing tunes address topics including: the joy of community connection, personal and collective mental health, and queer experience.

Gazing into the wildest, deepest part of the forest, the air is heavy with the scent of fresh moss and the decay of old wood. We’re uncertain of the path, but feel the point of an ancient, ephemeral compass gently prodding. We grasp hands, stepping thoughtfully into the darkness… As the climate rapidly shifts, it is imperative to develop and maintain connections to one another, to each of our heritages/histories, and to the environment itself. In this project, cellist Mikey Marget will create new folk-fusion music influenced by Scandinavian fiddle styles. They will interweave traditional and modern musical elements with poetry and puppet masks to explore the concept of connection during our human-caused climate crisis.

Valentine Lowry-Ortega is a Venezuelan-American songwriter based in the Twin Cities. They have been performing since they were old enough to speak, through the lens of their father’s camcorder, or at the hokey talent shows in their small hometown of Worthington, Minnesota.

They went on to study acting at a conservatory-style program during college, but realized that they prefer writing their own narratives and characters to playing pre-prescribed ones. This led them to pursue songwriting more seriously, in the beer-can littered basements of the Stevens Point DIY scene. After several years of testing their material, they moved to the Twin Cities, and formed their current project Oceanographer–a Folk-Pop band. Oceanographer has played across the Midwest, coloring the landscape with heartfelt, twangy tales of queer love and self-discovery. Valentine was nominated for a 2025 Loring Award in the category of “Best Upcoming Artist” for their work with Oceanographer. 

Arquetipo is a staged song cycle created by Venezuelan-American songwriter Valentine Lowry-Ortega, set within a mind suffering from fragmented memory. For survivors of childhood abuse, memories are often encoded irregularly–appearing more like fragments of a shattered mirror, or a jumbled web, rather than a linear narrative.

Raised in a mixed-race household, Valentine’s soundscape is colored by influences of Salsa and Latin Pop from their mother’s side, as well as influences of Folk and Country from their father. This Genre-Expansive Song Cycle weaves together truth and fantasy in a surrealist, childlike world. Sentimentality can be found through crooked doorways, the late-night hum of a television astrologer, or a cafecito shared with your abuelita. 

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